Tag: big ten week 4

Who are the 2020 Michigan Wolverines?

Unlike the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers, who have only played one game thus far, Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines have been in action each weekend to start the season. Long story short: it hasn’t been that pretty. Since the Harbaugh era …

Unlike the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers, who have only played one game thus far, Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines have been in action each weekend to start the season. Long story short: it hasn’t been that pretty.

Since the Harbaugh era began in Ann Arbor you could use a few words to define his teams: sub-par quarterback play, an average yet consistent offense and an uber-talented and dominant defense.

Related: Can Graham Mertz play this Saturday?

This year, though, it seems like most of that has been turned on its head.

There are still a lot of question marks surrounding the matchup including who will be able to suit up for the Badgers and whether Graham Mertz will start at quarterback.

That all can be put aside for a second as we go in-depth into 2020 Michigan Wolverines.

 

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Five keys to a Wisconsin victory over Michigan on Saturday

Head Coach Paul Chryst and the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers will be back in action Saturday against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan…

Head Coach Paul Chryst and the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers will be back in action Saturday against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines, a game date that will mark 22 days after their Week 1 contest against Illinois.

The last few weeks in Madison have not been easy, as the team opened the season with a dominant 45-7 victory Illinois, experienced a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, saw two of their games canceled and had to wait until just recently to return to the field for normal preparation.

Related: Can Graham Mertz play this Saturday?

It’s finally game week, though, and the Badgers’ upcoming battle against the Wolverines is a captivating one on many levels.

First, the Badgers:

The team will likely be without key contributors due to the Big Ten’s COVID-19 protocol. Those players, or how many there are, are not known. They did look utterly dominant in Week 1, though, but that could have been just what comes with playing Illinois.

Now, the Wolverines:

Harbaugh’s team sits at 1-2 on the season after disappointing losses against Michigan State and Indiana. They don’t have the talent to compete with Ohio State in the Big Ten East, but this year is shaping up to be yet another letdown for Michigan fans after Harbaugh came to the program with sky-high aspirations.

Then there’s the battle of young quarterbacks in Graham Mertz (hopefully) and Joe Milton, the Wolverines being the team that enters the game with a dominant rushing attack and Harbaugh’s squad losing arguably their best defensive player.

Related: ‘Next man up;” how the Badgers plan to possibly play without some of their Week 1 starters

It is shaping up to be an interesting, interesting game.

So, without further ado, here are five keys to a Wisconsin victory on Saturday:

 

Related:

‘Next man up;’ how the Badgers plan to possibly play without some of their Week 1 starters

In welcome news for Badger fans, after what will be a three-week layoff, Paul Chryst and the 1-0 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the…

In welcome news for Badger fans, after what will be a three-week layoff Paul Chryst and the 1-0 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the field on Saturday against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks in Badger land, as the team opened the season with a dominant 45-7 victory Illinois, experienced a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, saw two of their games canceled and had to wait until just recently to return to the field for normal preparation.

“They’ve been rough,” junior inside linebacker Jack Sanborn said when meeting with the media today. “To start it up this week, we’re all really excited about the opportunity we have at hand.”

Wide receiver Kendric Pryor shared Sanborn’s sentiment, saying the excitement is real and “the energy has been great. Everybody came out there today and yesterday with great energy and focused because two games got taken away just like that.”

When Sanborn, Pryor and the Badgers do end up taking the field on Saturday, it’s likely they’ll do so without some of the players we saw start for the team in Week 1.

Related: Can Graham Mertz play this Saturday?

While who will or how many players will miss the game is unknown, Pryor and Sanborn both shared three words about the current situation: “Next man up.”

Pryor, up first in the presser, said they will go into Ann Arbor with the guys they have, and both he and his team are confident they can come away with a victory.

When asked about whether redshirt freshman Graham Mertz will play, or what it would be like without him on the field, Pryor responded by saying “I feel confident. I’m obviously not sure about Mertz’s situation, but I’m confident in whoever goes out there.”

Sanborn practically mirrored Pryor’s sentiment surrounding the current situation, noting that no matter who misses the game, whoever plays is there for a reason.

The team’s attitude? “Next man up.”

Related: 3 things to watch for against Michigan this weekend

The depth chart aside, preparing for Saturday’s game has been unlike anything the players have experienced to date. During a normal season, even with bye weeks, they are able to meet in-person, practice and have normal workout routines.

Now, given they’ve been back in quarantine and unable to practice together, Sanborn praised the team’s attitude and mindset over the last few weeks and entering the week of practice.

“From what I’ve seen our team has approached it really well,” Sanborn said. “Each week it’s ‘on to the next week, who’s our opponent.’ I think we’ve had a good mindset and approach to it.”

Pryor noted that this is just another form of adversity that usually comes with a football season, just obviously this adversity is team-wide and not specific to a single player.

He finished by saying it isn’t about what you go through, as nobody will feel sorry for them going into quarantine and missing two games. “It’s about how you battle back from it,” Pryor said.

The Badgers will take the field in Ann Arbor this Saturday at 6:30 central. Whether they do so without key pieces is yet to be seen, but the team is confident about their preparation and who will play, and is excited about the opportunity to return (again) to playing football.

 

Stay tuned to BadgersWire all week as we preview the Michigan contest and follow the news of who will be able to put pads on and take the field.

ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor still likes the Badgers’ chances

After what will be three weeks of waiting, the Wisconsin Badgers are set to resume their season this weekend when they visit Jim Harbaugh…

After what will be three weeks of waiting, the Wisconsin Badgers are set to resume their season this weekend when they visit Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines.

Wisconsin started their season with a 45-7 statement victory against Lovie Smith and the Illinois Fighting Illini back on October 23. There was then a COVID-19 outbreak within the program and all football activities were put on hold.

Related: 3 things to watch for against Michigan this weekend

Going into the season ESPN FPI, SP+ and other predicting metrics liked the Badgers’ chances to reach the College Football Playoff. Part of their preseason love due to the easy schedule in front of the team, but much was also due to arguably-improved defense and consistency on offense.

We saw both of those traits play out against Illinois and much, much more, as redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz threw for 248 yards and 5 touchdowns, the defense shut out Illinois and the team as a whole looked unstoppable.

That obviously won’t be the case every week, but many questions were answered during that Week 1 game that began to validate the preseason love the team was getting.

Now, heading into Week 4 of the Big Ten season sitting at 1-0, ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor continues to give Paul Chryst’s team the fourth-highest chance to reach the playoff behind only Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson.

Chryst and his team will need to play the remaining five games on their schedule in order to qualify for the conference championship, let alone the playoff.

But if the team is able to play and win every game and give Ohio State a run for their money in the Big Ten Championship, the Badgers-to-the-playoff argument will have a lot of steam.

 

Stay tuned to BadgersWire all week as we preview the upcoming contest against Michigan and evaluate what the team could look like when they take the field on Saturday.

HC Paul Chryst discusses the COVID-19 status of his team heading into Saturday

All signs point towards the Wisconsin Badgers returning to the field this weekend against the Michigan Wolverines in what will be…

All signs point towards the Wisconsin Badgers returning to the field this weekend against the Michigan Wolverines in what will be their first game in 3 weeks.

Head Coach Paul Chryst met with the media today and discussed the contest, his experience with COVID-19 and the current COVID-19 status with the team.

Related: 3 things to watch for against Michigan this weekend

The main message: it is great to be back with the team and begin a normal week of preparation, though there is still a lot up in the air about who will be able to suit up on Saturday.

Chryst was asked specifically about the depth chart and how many players will miss the game, to which he responded by saying he doesn’t know how it will shake out with when players can return to practice and whether they will have enough practice time to get ready.

He did say, though, that there will likely be players that will receive snaps this weekend that “three weeks ago weren’t in that position.”

Related: A senior Badger makes the 2021 preseason Big Ten first team

In terms of redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz (probably the player everybody wants to know about), Chryst said he has returned to football activity and “will have some practice.” Whether that is enough preparation to play against Michigan, like much about the current situation, is yet to be seen.

Per Big Ten rules Mertz can play if he is cleared by a cardiologist and all goes well with his conditioning and practice this week. The outstanding variable at this point is how conditioned he will be after isolating with COVID-19 and whether he has enough practice time to prepare.

In terms of his own experience with the virus, Chryst said he “did not have a lot of symptoms” after testing positive.

 

Stay tuned to BadgersWire as we follow the ongoing story that is COVID-19 within the Badger football program and preview the upcoming contest against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines.

It looks like the Wisconsin Badgers will be back in action this weekend

After the Wisconsin football program paused team activities almost two weeks ago, there is finally news that points toward the team…

After the Wisconsin football program paused team activities almost two weeks ago, there is finally news that points toward the team being back in action this weekend against the Michigan Wolverines.

In a release from the program today Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said “We feel confident that we have a handle on the situation and are excited to play this week at Michigan.”

Related: 3 things to watch for against Michigan this weekend

The release included his comment in addition to noting the program currently has five active COVID-19 cases–two student-athletes and 3 staff members–and has had zero positive tests five of the last six days.

From the release:

“‘We had no new positives on Tuesday and Wednesday which was a great sign,’ UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. ‘That’s when we started thinking Friday could be a day we could get the team together to start doing things with an eye towards having a regular practice week this week. So we were cautious on Friday and Saturday, split guys into groups, and just did conditioning. The team then got together and held its regular Monday practice this morning.'”

 

Stay tuned to BadgersWire all week as we preview the contest against Michigan and explain what you should expect from the Badgers this weekend.

We can (almost) finally say it: Badger football is back.

Michigan will be without one of their defensive leaders against Wisconsin this weekend

The Michigan Wolverines had another disappointing performance yesterday against Michael Penix Jr. and the Indiana Hoosiers…

The Michigan Wolverines had another disappointing performance yesterday against Michael Penix Jr. and the Indiana Hoosiers, losing 38-21 and falling to 1-2 on the season.

Adding insult to injury, during the Wolverines’ first defensive series star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson injured his right ankle and is now out indefinitely.

Hutchinson is a team captain, one of their defensive leaders, arguably their most productive defender and is projected to be a top-25 prospect for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Related: Rumor: A former Badger could be on the move after the 2020 season

How much production is the Wolverine defense losing? The star defensive end recorded 69 tackles last season, 10 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks, 6 passes defended and 3 forced fumbles.

Through two games this year the junior tallied 13 tackles and one pass defended.

As written by our friends at WolverinesWire, despite losing Hutchinson the defensive line improved its play yesterday.

From their piece on what they learned from the contest against Indiana:

“Michigan’s defensive line have had two completely different games to start the season. They were able to get to Tanner Morgan at will when they faced Minnesota, but were unable to even breathe on Rocky Lombardi…

Michigan’s star defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, went out of the game early in the first quarter. Typically, losing a player of that caliber, would really hurt. But, Michigan was still able to maintain solid pressure all game against Penix.

The Wolverines were unable to record a sack today, but countless times Penix had to leave the pocket and scramble around — which lead to some really good throws and catches. Luiji Vilian and Taylor Upshaw had pretty good games, seeing more playing time with Hutchinson going down.

The only downside to the line today were the multitude of offside penalties. I believe two of them resulted in Penix throwing the ball up for grabs in the end zone — which resulted in touchdowns.

Once the penalties get shored up, this line looks to have some solid potential. The status of Hutchinson is still unknown, and Michigan will definitely want him back when they take on Wisconsin next week.”

The defensive line may have had a good showing, but as we learned last night Hutchinson is lining up to miss the contest against the Badgers on Saturday.

From a pure production and football perspective, this should help the Badgers find a rhythm in the running game after struggling to push the ball forward on the ground for the first three quarters against Illinois.

 

Stay tuned to BadgersWire all week as we preview the Badgers’ contest against the Wolverines and follow the ongoing COVID-19 status within the program.